Richmond startup Legacy Navigator is changing its image to reflect a shifting focus toward downsizing.
The company, which helps seniors and their families handle estate disposition, has rebranded to WayForth.
The original name stemmed from the company's mantra of threading the estate-management process (including cleanups and home sales) with empathy and compassion. Founded in 2016, it "landed on Legacy Navigator to focus on the outcome – not living in grief, but what’s on the other side," marketing manager Morganne August said.
By late 2017, she said, the company realized that nearly half its business came from people who were downsizing.
"We were well equipped to do so," she said, "but our name didn't suggest that we do that. The seed was planted then and it's been slowly unraveling ever since and gaining steam."
August said that two months ago, the startup's clients were split 50-50 between seniors downsizing and caretakers managing a deceased person's estate. Now, she said, about 65 percent of WayForth's business comes from downsizing.
To find its new brand identity, WayForth worked with Kelly O'Keefe at the VCU Brandcenter, who brought in a team to interview company leaders and clients. From there, a list of 75 possible company names was whittled down to one.
August said the WayForth name matches the startup's identity of helping people through transitions of any sort: "It's not just about leaving a legacy, but also finding a way forward in life."
Richmond advertising firm 93 Octane manned the design work for the rebrand.
To build out its broader senior living platform, WayForth acquired two senior-focused downsizing/moving companies last year: Havertown, Pa.-based Moving Solutions and Charlotte, N.C.-based Chaos to Calm.
Co-founder Matt Paxton, who previously founded Clutter Cleaner and hosted A&E TV series “Hoarders,” said in an interview last summer that WayForth wants to add 250 employees in the next few years, hoping to have full coverage from Boston to Florida.
The combined company currently has 106 full- and part-time employees, including 30 at its Henrico headquarters.
